Monday, March 07, 2005

Recent commentary: Renewing the PATRIOT Act

Should Congress renew the USA Patriot Act?

(published 7-Mar-2005, Appleton Post-Crescent)

John Adams said that it's more important "that innocence should be protected than it is that guilt should be punished." That certainly goes against our Judeo-Christian heritage of retribution for crime. Exactly what crimes are we retributing with this monster? The PATRIOT Act contains a lot of language like: "(ii) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking the period and inserting '; and'; and (iii) by inserting at the end the following..." This verbiage amends the federal laws. Therefore you cannot make heads or tails out of it without having that whole lot next to you when you read the PATRIOT Act just to determine whose ox gets gored. I'm with Russ Feingold on this one. The best part of the USA PATRIOT Act is Title II Sec. 224(a): "...this title...shall cease to have effect on December 31, 2005." Take it out behind the barn and kill it with an ax.